Northern Illinois Rotary Clubs Seeking Young Professionals for Vocational Study Exchange trip to India

Northern Illinois Rotary Clubs Seeking Young Professionals for Vocational Study Exchange trip to India

All expenses paid by Rotary for month long trip of a lifetime

The Rotary Club of Wheaton joins  Rotarians of Northeastern Illinois in seeking outstanding young professional and business men and women to participate as a member of a vocational study program to visit India for four weeks from January 19 to February 19, 2013. The Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is sponsored by The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

Applicants for this program must be at least 25 and no more than 40 years of age prior to the departure date. They must work or live within the boundaries of Rotary District 6440, which encompasses the area of Illinois: north, west, and northwest of Chicago, but not including Chicago. District 6440 includes Lake County, eastern McHenry and Kane Counties and northern Cook and DuPage counties. Applicants may not be a Rotarian or a close relative of a Rotarian, must be a USA citizen, must have been employed full-time in a recognized business or profession for at least two years at the time of applying and plan to remain in the business or profession well after the conclusion of the exchange.

Application forms and more information are available from the Rotary International Website: www.Rotary.org; or Rotary District 6440 Website: www.rotary6440.org; or by contacting the Rotary Club of Wheaton, Gordon Schrubbe at gorotary@sbcglobal.net. Completed applications which includes two endorsements, one from the applicant’s local Rotary Club and the other from the applicant’s employer as well as an essay of intent must be completed and returned by 6pm September 1, 2012 to Rotary GSE Committee,  Post Office Box 111, Long Grove, IL 60047.

The GSE program strives to improve international understanding by enabling people from different countries to learn from each other on a personal level. While abroad, team members will stay with Rotarian families to observe the host’s way of life, as well as study the nation’s economic, social and cultural characteristics through discussions and travel throughout the Rotary district. During the visit, the team members will spend a minimum of five days with their professional or business counterparts. Round trip transportation costs are paid by The Rotary Foundation (TRF). Housing, meals and travel during the visit are provided by the host Rotary District. The Group Study Exchange will be held in partnership with Rotary District 3480 in India, and encompasses Chennai, a major port city in Southern India.

Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders. Members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. As signified by the motto Service Above Self, Rotary’s main objective is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world.

The Rotary Club of Wheaton meets every Wednesday at 12:10pm at Arrowhead Golf Club on Butterfield in Wheaton. Through the club’s one yearly fundraiser, Christmas Inn, the Rotary Club of Wheaton is able to provide assistance to various local organizations and projects including: Humanitarian Service Project. S.C.A.R.C.E, Literacy Volunteers of DuPage, Wheaton Public Library, Wheaton High School’s Operation Safe Celebration, Wheaton Elementary School Student Scholarships for College, Vocational Scholarships, and more. Recent International projects have included: providing funding to build and furnish a home for orphans in the Dominican Republic; sending a container project to send medical equipment, school supplies and clothing to Uganda; purchase computers for a woman’s shelter in Peru for vocational training.